[1) It is SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 8. Visit our video channel at YouTube/TheGregCote for our "The View From Miami" mini-commentaries including a new one on the Hurricanes' and Dolphins' Hard Road Weekend. 2) Thanks to Paul &Young Ron for having us on their show on 105.9 yesterday. 3) Join us on Twitter @gregcote]

Canesfan Satisfaction Meter: A UM game means another CSM poll. Find the newest one now in the blogpost directly ABOVE this one. Voting now underway!

G2: NO. 21 KANSAS STATE 52, HURRICANES 13: Big hurtin' put on The U today out in the Great Plains, a humbling 52-13 loss to Kansas State, a reality-check result after last week's nice opening win at Boston College. Highlights: QB Stephen Morris looked good again, and Duke Johnson had a 77-yard kickoff return. Lowlights: Just about everything else. The Canes defense was horrible, all over the field. UM looked like what it was today: A very young team not yet ready to play with the big boys. Original post: Winning the opener at Boston College last week was expected; it was one of those W's you count
on even if you're only imagining a six-win season. But this? This is not a win you count on. UM is a touchdown underdog on the road against a ranked team that thinks it can come out of the BIg 12 and into a BCS bowl. So this is one of those wins you need if you're thinking beyond the six- or seven-win year and dreaming bigger. A loss for Miami would be excusable. But a win would announce these Canes might be much better than the experts have figured. We'll see. We'll see if Stephen Morris looks as poised as he did a week ago, if freshman Duke Johnson keeps making magic, and if Miami's pass rush and pass defense show needed improvement. K-State won at Miami last season, 28-24. I'd be surprised if this one wasn't as close and give The U a big upset shot. Pick: Kansas State, 24-20.

Other Collball Week 2 state FBS games:

No. 24-Florida 20, Texas A&M 17: The Gator looked a bit shaky in beating Bowling Green last week, so this near-pick-'em game against a quality opponent would reveal the real Florida. And UF showed up nicely with a big road win. My pick was: Texas A&M, 31-27.

FIU 41, Akron 38 (OT): The Int'l got spanked at Duke last week and the weak Akron Zips were here to provide a ripe remedy for the Mario Brothers. You could file last week under "rough start" but there would be no excuses available this time. FIU would barely escape, led by Jake Medlock's passing and running. My pick was: FIU, 36-17.

Middle Tennessee 31, FAU 17: Owls were unimpressive in barely beating tiny Wagner at home last week. This would have been a huge Sun Belt win against a better, but beatable, opponent. My pick was: Middle Tennessee, 21-7.

National game of the week: None. Vacated. Zero Week 2 matchups between Top 25 teams.

AAWWK! IT'S UPSET BIRD DAY IN SOUTH FLORIDA!: Happy Bird Day, everybody. This week marked the return of our Friday NFL predictions page featuring the Upset Bird. Our Week 1 marquee three: 1) DOLPHINS: Texans 30, Miami 10. Wish I could be optimistic about this one, but Miami has given little cause for that and Houston is a very good opponent. Arian Foster being questionable to play evens the field a bit but not nearly enough. 2) GAME OF THE WEEK: Steelers 24, Broncos 23. Peyton Manning's return from neck surgeries in new clothes makes this the GOTW, and it'll be a great one. 3) UPSET SPECIAL: Chiefs 24, Falcons 20. "Aawwk!" KC and Seattle are my teams in each conference flying sub-radar but ready to surprise. Click on Week 1 Gems for our expanded pick-capsules on every game. And on Born To Fail for our annually ill-fated division-by-division forecast including the Super Bowl winner.

ON BEINFEST/IRELAND: In Marlins president of baseball operations Larry Beinfest and Dolphins general manager Jeff Ireland, pictured left and right, we have two personnel chiefs under fire. Take 'em
alphabetically. BEINFEST: He'll be gone after this season (it says here), but as much as a scapegoat as with cause. Jeffrey Loria and David Samson will find somebody to blame for Miami being perhaps MLB's most disappointing team. Beinfest spent years making the most of shoestring budgets; unfortunately, he failed when finally handed a big pile of money. I think Beinfest is a good baseball man, but I also think no playoffs since 2003 is not a great platform on which to seek reelection. IRELAND: Owner Stephen Ross' allegiance to Ireland is hard to justify. I'd have handed over Ireland's personnel power to get coach Jeff Fisher, but that's just me. Miami going into this season without a legit No. 1 receiver for rookie QB Ryan Tannehill is on Ireland entirely. His Litmus test will be Tannehill. If this kid doesn't work out in a big way, the Dolphins will have little choice but to shake up the front office and move forward without Ireland.